Frugal Friends Facing Forward with Fortitude

[Happierwithouthim]

Here's a friendly space for new and existing frugal friends.

We have all different types of incomes and lifestyles but with a common goal of making the best of the money we have.

Many of us have experiences of becoming debt free or being in difficulty with money for one reason or another so there's no need for embarrassment, just join in, post as little or as often as you wish.

Some record daily spends, some record only spends that are unplanned, some don't record spends at all, the choice is yours!

Afternoon everyone
Thank you @RumBananaSundae re my Mum, she continues to recover thankfully
Sorry the asshole is continuing in his assholing ways but he won't be bothering you for much longer hopefully sweetheart
Thank you re my Mum @marthasmum sorry you have overspent this Christmas but you can wing it back l am sure
@tayto omg tell me about the cat food well it's not just the cat food it's all animal food l think , our wild bird seed has almost doubled in price !
l haven't done a lot today, just bathed & washed hair . We were supposed to be going to a funeral tomorrow but we decided to have a look at the access today before going tomorrow , the church is tiny , access to the church is through a 5 bar gate/field , the lane leading to it is miniscule, flooded and mud bound and the tiny car park is flooded , so glad we went to see if the access was ok. ln the interests of our safety we have decided not to go , will just send a donation now . Then we went to visit Mum for 2 hours and come home and scoffed now sat on the sofa, chopsing on MN
Bless your Ds @Happierwithouthim
Thank you @unescorted she was so much better today it's unbelievable ! Good luck re the coursework sweetheart
@lifelongfrugaleer l love Seasalt clothes
Spends today, a pr of leather Hush Puppies for Dh for £30 , they were half price so a really good price , he is moaning they are too small but l told him he has to wear them in

Please may I join you? We would like to save to move in the next couple of years. I am planning a no buy year for books, crafting supplies and dress making material in 2024 and a massive declutter too.

@MaryGreenhill I think you should be able to hear the swearing at yours. The good news is that I have learnt how to do a SUMIFS() based on dates. I am quite proud of that. Other than that it has been word soup central.

It is as well you went for a reccie. Sounds like a muddy quagmire.

@Helloandgoodmorning2 when you find the secret to not frittering on craft supplies can you let me know your secret. Welcome to the nicest part of MN

Hello all :wave:
I've been a lurker for over 6 years (nice that there are still regulars over all this time) but holding myself accountable this year to minimise the daily little spends that add up.
2 DDs, a healthy income but big expenses of childcare, nr. London mortgage, and 2 commutes.
I'm hoping to update daily of spends and share bargains!

Hi @Chile1978 you have my sympathy with London commuting costs. I thought mine were bad until I spoke to a London based colleague.

Hi. I’ve been awol for a while. Personal shite etc.

fibancial goals for 2024.

pay off credit card as a priority. Current balance £4284. Keep me accountable please.
then focus on emergency fund of £2500. As a minimum.

Thanks @Unescorted - it doesn't really bear thinking about and rising every year. The above 3 things take over £4k a month of post tax income.
Love where we live but we get all the London pricing without being on the tfl network.

Good plan @ememem84
Similar financial goals here too.
Work out pension contributions needed to avoid hicbc by Mar (may or may not be able to do this)
Pay back savings : £3600

I'm prone to shopping on my commute too which doesn't help - whilst waiting for delayed trains! So I wanted to knuckle down this year. Need to redo budget too with changes in pay and nursery fees.

@Chile1978 it is awful when you see so much of your salary disappear on bare essentials.

Happy Christmas everyone. I hope you had a good December. This was month two of managing the mortgage and bills alone plus car tax, insurance and MOT falling in December and by some kind of Christmas miracle I seem to have made it to payday tomorrow with some money left in my account that I will put into savings.

I found a couple of awesome recipes for Xmas leftovers which will see me into lunches from the freezer well into January.

A few people I watch on You Tube are doing an ‘eat out of your pantry’ challenge and I am going to see how far I can go without needing to buy any food. I have a couple of freezers full with meat, fruit and veggies, some dehydrated and vacuum packed food and loads of flour for bread. I have a pot of money for food for January and I am hoping to use very little from the pot.

Eat out of your pantry is always a good way to reduce food outgoings.
Do you dehydrate your own vege or is it bought in?
Chile I endure the commuter doom that is Manchester Piccadilly. I get a warm fuzzy feeling that my canx train has sponsored a deserving pot hole somewhere south of Watford.
Em lovely to see you.

In December I bought a lot of meat and 6 jars of coffee and coffee beans on very good offers from various supermarkets. In January I'm planning on slowly using it so not having to spend much on meals. I know I'll have to buy milk, bread, eggs and a few fruits and vegetables but hopefully no meat or coffee which are expensive items.

Oh @Chile1978 nursery fees. I remember those. I think we pjs our last ones in July 2022. At its worst it was £1800 for three full days for 2 kids. Eeek. Which was more than our mortgage.

we’ve flipped into new mortgage rate territory too. So as of 4 jan it’s 5.8% 😩 so around £2300. 😩😩 for “only” a 3 bed house. But hey ho. Thems the breaks.

I didn’t end up moving jobs in the end. And stuck where I was on the promise of a salary match.

im in new year new me declutter mode too. Emptied half the wardrobe out the other day too. So am trying to be more organised.

had horrific migraine the other day (at works Christmas party) which meant I had to literally eat and run home to take meds otherwise I was going to throw up. Not fun. Got it just in time.

feeling very down at moment too. But dr apt on weds to chat through things. Hoorah.

So sorry you are feeling down @ememem84.
Hope things get better soon

@Unescorted Yes, I have a dehydrator and have done apple slices, onions, mushrooms and carrots this year, so all useful store cupboard stuff.
I am shocked at the cost of childcare these days. I am rather out of touch as my children are in their late 20s and 30s.

I thought of getting a dehydrator to do camping meals for my DS and DH when they go on adventures. Before I set off down that route they got a deal off a supplier. Now their IG feeds have artfully placed pouches.

What day is tree down day?

Joining in the "eat out of your pantry" gang!

@tuttifritti we are very lucky to be able to cover the essentials. Sounds like you had a successful December - money left over 👏

@ememem84 They say the primary years are the cheapest - no nursery fees but no teens clamouring for tech, and no uni fees, but maybe this is hopelessly misguided 😂With the CoL although we have DD1 in school we haven't been able to save the supposed spare.

@Unescorted I've never been to that station but I'll think of you if I do!

@Helloandgoodmorning2 I don't necessarily begrudge the cost - I want my kids to be well looked after; but the wages for the workers are so low. Seems the only real solution is properly subsidised care.

Spends yesterday £5 toiletries £30 bike (secondhand, retails at £230 new) so pleased with this bargain £10 food

Hi @Sandytoxic I have lots of recipes for things that require capers.

So far primary has been the cheapest time. In secondary the bikes and art supplies costs ramped up. Uni is so expensive - start saving now.

Stir Fried Christmas Dinner was a major success here last night for supper. I had some turkey, ham, a couple of roasties, parsnips and 3 pigs in blankets left. So I fried an onion and chopped it all up and chucked in all in the wok with shredded cabbage and carrots and loads of soy sauce and we had it with rice. All agreed that this was the best use of leftovers and even better than the turkey, ham and leek pie that we had had for 2 meals! Only a small amount of cream and some cheeses left now, plus half a jar of mincemeat. I think I will Delia recipe for a pudding using the mincemeat and cream and have mega cheese and onion toasties for lunch over the weekend.
I am off to the shed this morning to do a inventory of the freezer in there so I can compile a January meal plan. I am prepared for a lot of puddings involving blackcurrants!

Thanks - I’m debating whether it’s hormonal or just because it’s Christmas/winter/school holidays/im exhausted.

it’ll be ok.

Great to see so many new "faces" here. I love doing a pantry challenge & like you Martha we've massively overspent in December so that will be a good start to recovery. Hello that leftovers meal sounds very similar to what we call our Christmas bubble & squeak & it's our absolute favourite!
I've got my aunty & a friend coming over for lunch today so that will be cheese & cold meats, bread & crackers. Friend is bringing a tent for dd. It's hardly used & she doesn't want any money for it so that's a great bonus for DD.
We had a great night on Thursday entertaining our pub quiz team mates. Between us we created a very eclectic buffet of leftovers & yellow stickered food & drank far too much, but everyone contributed, it was a great use up exercise with no additional spends. DH may have been a bit slow out of the blocks yesterday WFH 😂

we have some big things coming up though. I just remembered. (DH has been organising this so I’ve forgotten about it)

we’re getting solar panels on the house next week (I think!). Total cost £12k. But it’ll save us around £400 a year on electrics apparenrltly.

once that’s in we’re going to have to think about a new car. Ours is costing us £1000 + a year now for servicing. And probs around the same in petrol and insurance. DH wants an electric car. Which would save us.

I need to do a kitchen audit so I can neal plan for the month.

kids have got their school meals organised until half term so that’s one thing off the list £110 (£2.50 per kid per day).

Tree down day is officially the 6th Mine is coming down today

That is good news life I can ignore it for another week.

Em hopefully you feel a bit brighter as the days get longer again.

So excited... DS lovely girlfriend is coming for a stay over before everyone decamps to Scotland so they can do a 24hour mountain bike race. It is so sweet how happy DS is. I want to be the bestest boy friend mummy for her stay. She is vegetarian but is doing Veganuary so I am on the hunt for your very best pasta based vegan recipes. Tasty but comforting. Also any vegan cake recipes... I have a couple but there is no such thing as too much cake.

Pasta is a tricky one to get vegan,because so much has egg in! Stir fry with rice noodles, or ratatouille or curry with rice are my go tos.

Today I used up some over ripe tomatoes this morning by prepping a puttanesca sauce for my leftover pasta later. I also zhuzhed up a home made tomato sauce with a good dash of Tabasco. Does it go out of date, the bottle seems rather aged?

off to list a few more items on Vinted